The Asus X101 MeeGo netbook was introduced in May, and will be the cheapest 10-inch Eee PC / netbook to hit the market at just $199.

To be able to sell the X101 MeeGo at such a low price, but keep the quality high, Asus has tweaked the specifications of the netbook. They have fitted it with the Intel Atom 1.33Ghz low power consumption processor, a lower capacity 3 cell battery, and given it an 8GB solid state drive, rather than a larger standard hard drive.

But the major change in the Asus X101 MeeGo is revealed in its name. It runs the free MeeGo Linux operating system rather than Windows. This means there is no license fee to pay Microsoft, and this saving is reflected in the price of the X101.

The netbook is very thin and light, and has a 10-inch matte display with a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution. Other features include 802.11g/b/n WiFi, 2x USB 2.0, and a microSD card slot which can be used to easily expand the on-board storage capacity.

If you like the sound of the Asus X101 but don’t like the idea of the MeeGo operating system, the upcoming Asus X101H will be available running Windows 7. But this will cost about $100 more.

Retailer PCSuperStore was listing the Asus X101 was shipping, but it’s currently showing as available for pre-order for $199.73 confirming the price.